A meeting of President Aleksandar Vucic with representatives of the Kosovo Serbs was held in the Palace of Serbia. After the meeting, Vucic said in a press conference that he advised them to wait for talks in Berlin, where he will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, reports Belgrade based news agency Beta.

"Apart from everything else, Pristina is doing some other things. They want to revoke the right of Serbs to an opinion," Vucic said.

Sooner or later the EU must accept Serbia and other Western Balkans states as its members, since it is the only way to “preserve” these countries from the influence of other stakeholders, foremost Russia and China, diplomatic sources unofficially told Belgrade-based daily Danas.

They noted “the enlargement is the only tool at the Union’s disposal when it comes to the Balkans,” although it remains completely uncertain if 2025 would be a year of Serbia’s and Montenegro’s accession to the EU.

The central state ceremony of the 20^th anniversary of the NATO aggression and the Day of Remembrance of the victims was held in Nis, south Serbia, late on Sunday. The day marked 20 years since the western military alliance started its attacks on Serbia, that lasted 78 days.

Addressing the gathering President Aleksandar Vucic said that the death of 2,500 civilians during the NATO aggression, and especially 79 children, will always be a crime for us.

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said today that Serbia is aware of the
mistakes it has made in the past but added that NATO bombing in 1999 was the
fault of others, not the citizens of Serbia.

The European Union has minimised the impact China has on the Balkans, the bloc’s Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn has said on Tuesday, adding he is worried about the level of loans for infrastructural projects those countries take from Beijing, the Beta news agency reported.

In an interview with Financial Times, Hahn said such loans increased the risk for those countries in the long run.

According to him, the EU would have been a more fair partner.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has received a letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Chinese leader "expressed readiness to work with him on further improvement of the strategic partnership between the two countries," Tanjug news agency reported, quoting the president's press office.

According to a press release, at Xi's invitation, Vucic will attend the 2nd international Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on April 25-27.

"The most recent addition to the regional power game is China; and the EU suspects that it may exploit its economic heft for political gains." This is stated in a report published ahead of this year's Munich Security Conference, dubbed, "The Great Puzzle: Who will pick up the pieces?"

The segment of the report dedicated to this region is entitled, "Western Balkans: With friends like these...," and it states that EU leaders "recognize the strategic importance of this missing piece in the 'jigsaw of Europe'."

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on Monday welcomed the new Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Serbia, Chen Bo. Brnbic stressed that friendly relations between the two countries are constantly improving, the government announced.

Brnabic pointed out the cooperation in large infrastructure projects and Chinese investments, including the investment in Smederevo Zelezara and RTB Bor.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic welcomed the new Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo, expressing belief she would add with her work a special mark on the iron friendship between the two countries, Tanjug news agency reported.

Vucic added he is proud that relations between Serbia and China are at the highest level in history and that he hopes to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping to Serbia this year. He voiced satisfaction over an intensive political dialogue and fruitful economic cooperation between the two countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asked the EU’s Federica Mogherini on the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and she said any potential agreement between the two sides would have to be ratified by the UN Security Council, Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said.

"This is evidence that Russia is monitoring the situation and that they won’t just be silent observers," Dacic said.